Denise Peace walks granddaughter Shaniya, 4, home from school. The girl's mother was walking one of her children back from school herself when she was shot to death last year.

Denise Peace walks granddaughter Shaniya, 4, home from school. The girl's mother was walking one of her children back from school herself when she was shot to death last year. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The number of children being raised by grandparents has continued to grow through the recession and beyond. Denise Peace, a Brooklyn, N.Y., grandmother, is raising five of her deceased daughter's 12 children.